A method to operate a hearing device as well as an arrangement with a hearing device is known from DE 100 48 341 C1 for which a number of stationary transmitter units are provided to avoid misinterpretation of a current acoustic situation, which transmitter units are positioned in the area of an acoustic signal source and which transmitters transmit a source specific signal permanently or periodically. A receiver unit residing in the hearing device recognizes the information emitted from the signal source. In the hearing device, a best suitable hearing program is selected on the basis of the received information. For example, in order to recognize the hearing situation “office”, a transmitter unit which emits an office-recognition signal, is positioned at one's workplace. If the hearing device user stays at or in the vicinity of his workplace the “office”—recognition signal will be received by the hearing device. As a consequence thereof, the hearing program “office” will be selected in the hearing device and the acoustic surround situation, as it normally appears in an office, will be taken into consideration.
Hence, the known teaching is basically a means to improve the recognition of specific acoustic surround situations. This means might improve the general hearing ability of the hearing device user in a surround situation if a transmitter unit is provided sending out a predefined recognition signal. In order to improve the hearing ability specifically, in particular to a reference person, the known teaching is not suitable.
In the German publication document DE 199 43 872 A1, an apparatus for speech control is described whereas specific acoustic signals are recorded to control a device with the aid of directional microphones. The characteristics of the directional microphones are adjusted with the aid of infrared movement detectors by determining the direction from which the acoustic signals come from with the movement detectors, and by adjusting the characteristics of the microphones thereafter. The known teaching works well if a single moving acoustic source exists. This teaching cannot be used to detect several moving acoustic sources. Besides, the known teaching requires two independent systems, namely one for determining the position of the acoustic source and one for recording the acoustic signals. Therefore, an implementation of the known teaching is a costly undertaking.
The European patent with the publication number EP-0 472 356 B1 discloses a speech recognition device to be used in automobiles. Thereby, operations usually carried out manually are replaced by automatic operations triggered by acoustic signals. The system is implemented using a direction-dependent microphone that ignores acoustic commands of a passenger, while any command of the driver is carried out. On the basis of the fixed position, to be known in advance, of the person submitting the command, namely the driver position, it is a system configured in advance without any possibility of later amendments.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a method to operate a hearing device for which method the aforementioned drawbacks do not occur, and for which method an improved communication becomes possible with a single person or with several reference people, even though the position changes of either the hearing device user and/or the reference person or the reference people.